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Stratfor has released a breaking intelligence report indicating that GSPC, which recently swore allegiance to al-Qaeda, has been instructed to form a unified command with Morocco's Islamic Combatant Group, Libya's Islamic Fighting Group and several Tunisian groups, most notably the Tunisian Combatant Group. The new organization reportedly will be called The Union of the Arab Maghreb. Spanish newspaper El Periodico cited Spanish anti-terrorism intelligence sources in their report of this intelligence, who said the information regarding the creation of the new unified network was derived from a plan Moroccan police discovered in one of several raids over the summer.

The al-Qaeda concept of creating a unified group of "Qaedat al-Jihad in the Arab Maghreb Countries" is not new. Moroccan authorities discovered plans for such a union in late 2005, when raids targeting several suspected militants turned up messages sent by leaders in the region to Osama bin Laden. In those messages, leaders reportedly discussed a plan for the GSPC to officially join al-Qaeda and then unite jihadists in the Maghreb countries -- in many ways conforming to the pattern established by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who united jihadists in Jordan and Iraq. Significantly, the GSPC effort would also strive to unite North African militants living in Europe into a cohesive paramilitary entity.

El Periodico's report would seem to confirm that plans for the pan-Maghreb merger have proceeded. Other signs of traction came from Ayman al-Zawahiri, who said in a September 11, 2006, message that GSPC had joined forces with al-Qaeda in a union he hoped would be "a thorn in the neck of the American and French Crusaders and their allies, and an arrow in the heart of the French traitors and apostates." Al-Zawahiri went on to say, "We ask Allah to help our brothers of the GSPC to hit the foundations of the Crusader alliance, primarily their old leader the infidel United States, praise be on Allah." On September 13, GSPC acknowledged the merger on its Web site with a message from its emir, Abu Musab Abd al-Wadoud, who wrote that, "We have full confidence in the faith, the doctrine, the method and the modes of action of [al-Qaeda's] members, as well as their leaders and religious guides."

Here's something interesting we found over at Evangelical Outpost. Ever wondered who has controlled the Middle East over the course of history? This great animation takes you through the last 5,000 years in just 90 seconds.

Polling juggernaut Quinnipiac University has released an interesting new poll. QU asked 1,080 American voters to rate each of these countries on a scale of 0 -100 according to "how friendly or unfriendly do you think" each nation or group is to the U.S. These are the mean scores:

"The changes since our last poll show that the recent fighting in the Middle East has strengthened Americans' view that Israel is a friend to the U.S. and that Iran, Syria and the Palestinians are not," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "The biggest change toward Israel has been among political independents."

Israel's support in the U.S. is stronger among Republicans (70.9) and independents (68.1) than among Democrats (60) and among men (71.9) than women (60.5).

In other findings, approval of the Palestinian Authority dropped from 25.0 to 22.8; Iran fell from 16.9 to 13.9; Syria, which was not previously polled on, scored third worst overall at 21.7. In each case, Democrats and women view those countries marginally more favorably than Republicans, independents or men. Additionally, Saudi Arabia, which condemned the original Hezbollah attack, dropped from 39.5 in June to 38.2.

"Although the changes in each case are modest, together it is reasonable to assume that they show the recent fighting increased Americans' sympathies toward Israel and increased the animosity in the United States toward Israel's enemies," said Brown.

There was also a new Harris Interactive poll released today that shows Americans view Israel and a friendly country and Iran as an enemy. The online poll of 3,685 adults measured American attitudes towards Turkey, Afghanistan and 11 others countries in the Middle East as well as attitudes toward eight leaders and organizations in the region.

Three-quarters of U.S. adults identify Israel as either a close ally or "a friend, but not an ally," compared with 16% who see the nation as "not friendly, but not an enemy" and 8% who see it as "unfriendly and an enemy."

By comparison, 76% of those polled view Iran as an enemy, while 21% see the country as not friendly, and only 4% view it as a close ally or friend. The region's other governments least likely to be seen as either an ally or friend were Syria (8%), Libya (12%), Lebanon (15%) and Iraq (18%).

As far as views of leaders in the region go, Israeli PM Ehud Olmert is viewed most positively by Americans (49%). Olmert was followed by King Abdallah of Jordan (44%), Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (37%), Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora (31%), Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (25%), the Palestinian Authority (23%), Hamas (17%) and Hezbollah (14%).

FDD writes that the newly "reformed" UN Human Rights Council (the U.S., Israel, the Marshall Islands and Palau were the only nations to vote against its creation) failed to adopt a single statement for the victomes of gross atrocities in Darfur in its first session from June 19-30, but made time to pass one country-specific resolution against Israel (Resolution A/HRC/1/L.15).

In Freedom House's annual rankings, on a scale of 1 as most free and 7 as least free, Israel received a ranking of 1 for political rights, and 2 for civil liberties, and was characterized as "free" on the freedom rating scale. By contrast, the sponsors of this resolution, with their respective scoring, included: Cuba (7-7-not free), Iran (6-6-not free), Libya (7-7-not free), and Syria (7-7-not free).

At the end of the special session, the Council passed a resolution by a vote of 29-11-5, which dispatched a fact-finding mission to the area, expressed grave concern at the human rights violations caused by the Israeli "occupation," including the current extensive Israeli military operations, and demanded that Israel "abide scrupulously by the provisions of international humanitarian law and human rights law."

The resolution makes no mention of other violations of human rights laws, such as the rockets being firing into Israeli cities or the incursion into sovereign Israeli territory for the express purpose of killing and/or abducting Israeli soldiers -- the acts which precipitated this most recent outbreak of hostilities.

Hesham Youssef, chief of staff for Arab League S-G Amr Moussa, said the money -- donated by Arab states including Qatar, Libya and Syria -- was sent on Monday to an account held by Abbas's office after months of delays.

The Arab League move followed a similar transfer of $15 million it sent to Abbas last week to "aid Palestinian refugees in Arab countries."

The Arab League has been trying for months to find a way to transfer aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, but has been blocked by U.S. restrictions. Under U.S. law, any foreign bank that refuses to cooperate with the U.S. in cutting off funding to Hamas risks having its U.S. assets frozen and its access to U.S. financial markets denied.

Sources tell us -- and this report confirms -- that Musa Kusa, who has served as Libya's Deputy Foreign Minister and head of Moammar Gadhafi's External Security Organization (ESO), will soon be named the Libyan Ambassador to the United States.

Kusa earned a degree in sociology from Michigan State University in 1978 and wrote a fawning political biography of Gadhafi for his master's thesis. The following year, he was posted to London as the head of Libya's embassy. Last year, he was named in a U.S. court as a key planner of an alleged plot to kill Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah, who became king after the death of King Fahd.

According to a State Department report this year, Kusa's agency was part of an "extensive security apparatus" overseeing a "pervasive surveillance system." Security forces have held numerous detainees for years without charge or trial, and torture was routinely used on political foes, the report says. Methods allegedly included beatings, electric shock, pouring lemon juice on open wounds, breaking fingers "and allowing the joints to heal without medical care," suffocation with plastic bags and hanging by the wrists.

Should Kusa be officially tapped as the top Libyan diplomat to the U.S. since the thaw in relations culminated with diplomatic recognition, we'll be watching closely to see if Bush accepts a nominee with blood on his hands. The Constitution affords Bush the sole responsibility to "receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers" in Article II, Section 3.

"I am pleased to announce that the United States is restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya. We will soon open an embassy in Tripoli," Rice said in a statement Monday. "In addition, the United States intends to remove Libya from the list of designated state sponsors of terrorism. Libya will also be omitted from the annual certification of countries not cooperating fully with United States' anti-terrorism efforts," she said.

The move comes a quarter-century after diplomatic relations were severed following the 1979 sacking of the U.S. embassy in Tripoli by protesters. Alleged Libyan-backed terrorist attacks in 1986 spurred the U.S. to launch air raids against Tripoli. Libya was also held responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed near Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, most of them Americans.

"We are taking these actions in recognition of Libya's continued commitment to its renunciation of terrorism and the excellent cooperation Libya has provided to the United States and other members of the international community in response to common global threats faced by the civilized world since September 11, 2001," Rice said.

After Kadhafi agreed to open up Libya's weapon production sites to U.S. and British experts, the U.S. opened a a special interests section in Tripoli in February, 2004. This was upgraded to a "liaison office" on June 28 that year, officially reestablishing formal relations.

Qadhafi, who came to power in a military coup in 1969, has proposed a Middle East peace plan that calls from the elimination of Israel and the creation of a binational state called the Federal Republic of the Holy Land.

In a January op-ed piece in the International Herald Tribune, Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth said: "Still, Libya remains a closed and tightly controlled society. There is no independent press or civil society, and there are no political groups that are not officially sanctioned."

Speaking from Yemen on Monday, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said on al-Jazeera TV that "Hamas won't give up the option of armed resistance against the occupation," and that "[resistance, i.e. terrorism] is a strategic option that will not be retreated from until the liberation of all the occupied Palestinian territories from the river to the sea."

"Those who believe that negotiations and accepting the proposed conditions would lead us to get our rights are deluded," Mashaal told an Islamist gathering on the next leg of his trip to Bahrain. He left Bahrain Tuesday heading to the oil-rich UAE for talks with officials there. He is also expected to visit Kuwait and Libya.

Hamas, with no background outside terrorism, has been unable to bring other Palestinian factions into the fold for their government. This is of course the fault of the U.S. government. Arabic News reports that "Hamas accused the U.S. of pressuring other Palestinian groups in order not to take part in a new government under its chairmanship and to justify its plans to attack the Palestinian people."

"Those who point the finger at Qadhafi are right. I don't think that in Libya, like in Syria or Iran, it's possible to see a mass demonstration without someone at the top knowing about it," said Marcello Pera, a leading member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party. On February 8, Condoleezza Rice said that "Iran and Syria have gone out of their way to inflame sentiments and to use this to their own purposes and the world ought to call them on it."

Pera was forced to resign on Saturday by Berlusconi, who has been eager not to squander years of careful diplomacy with the oil-and-gas rich desert state and former Italian colony, which supplies 30% of Italy's natural gas needs.

September 2007

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"If there were just a hint more thinking like this in Washington, prosecuting and decisively winning the War on Terror would not be the 'controversy' some choose to make it…at the cost of National Security"